Sen. Chuck Schumer is lashing out at Major League Baseball for considering whether to allow advertisements on player uniforms.
The Yankees’ recent trip to Japan was sponsored by Ricoh, and its company logo appeared on patches on players’ arms, as well as on their batting helmets. On Monday, MLB officials said it may float the idea of similar arrangements in the U.S.
Advertising Age estimated that putting a slogan on a slugger could bring in $500 million a year.
“We’re unashamed of the fact that we are a business,” Tim Brosnan, MLB’s executive vice president for business, said on Monday. “I don’t think this is unreasonable.”
Schumer disagreed, and said he was sending a letter to Commissioner Bud Selig today to object to the plan.
“Imagine Willie Mays bearing an ad for Exxon on his back as he turned to make ‘the catch.’ Envision Jackie Robinson stealing home with a Budweiser logo on his cap,” Schumer wrote. “Picture Lou Gehrig declaring himself the luckiest man on the face of the earth with a Coca-Cola banner across his chest. It’s just wrong.”
The MLB will face obstacles within its own organization as well. A Yankees spokesman said the team doesn’t want advertisements on uniforms, and players who already have sponsorship pacts may object to any league-wide deals.
The biggest objection, though, will come from the purists, among whom Schumer counts himself.
“Baseball stands for America,” he wrote. “Everyone understands there’s commercialization in the game, but this takes it a step too far.”